Cyclists on Cyclepath debate boils my p**** Grrrr.

I was on a rather nice (road) ride yesterday. I normally stick to the country lanes but yesterday as I was heading to the in-laws for lunch decided to stick in a loop around the town.

There was a cycle 'path' for a couple of miles of the town loop. It is on the right hand side of the road in the direction I was heading and just starts, from nothing. The only way to get on it from the start is to stop on the LH side of the busy road and cross a pedestrian crossing to the RH side. Or ride about 1/4 mile further on, take a right hand turn middle filter lane, turn right and jump on the path.

I was having a few problems turning right as the road was so busy. In the end some guy in a van let me turn right into the filter lane, only to holler at me as I waved thanks:

'oi mate there's a cyclepath over there'. I just nodded but what I really wish I'd said was 'I AM TRYING TO GET ON TO IT YOU C**K BUT IT AIN'T SUITABLE for 2 PEDESTRIANS side by side LET ALONE CYCLISTS AND WALKERS SHARING and HAVE YOU EVER CYCLED IT YOU T**T?"

Then I noticed this thread of sh*te on my local rag in response to a reader's letter:

I had to stop reading the comments on that page. dispair was threatening to eat me soul...

On the flip side I had a 30 mile ride out round my neck of the woods on Saturday, did not meet one miserable walker. Infact I met 30 plus walkers all of whom were polite and cheery. Some even cheered me on along a horible into the wind bit. Trail sharing is a state of mind.

this is a great website that documents all the poorly planned/executed cycle paths that start/stop suddenly, terminate in bollards, etc.http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/
A lot of cycle paths seem to have had absolutely no thought put into them (certainly not from anyone who's ever ridden a bike) and seem to exist purely to fulfill some kind of quota.

I tend to avoid them near me, as in the majority of cases they are littered with thorny twigs from where the hedges have been cut. Riding on them invariably ends in punctures.

There are some decent ones near me, but the entry to them is obscured or off a little side road, so by the time I remember I am coming up to one, it is too late to get onto it. I then have to ride alongside it for a considerable distance unable to get onto it, as I would have to negotiate a wide bumpy strip of long grass. If there were entry/exit points where the grass strip was cleared for a short section it would make it easy & safe to join having missed the start of the lane.
The cycle lanes also end with no warning to the people on them, or to motorists and so it is often difficult to rejoin the carriageway without stopping completely.

You were lucky, I was on the road from Rugby to Dunchurch a few years back, NOT using the shiny new dual use cycle track, a nice white van man tried to make a 'me' sized dent in his nearside. I was furious, as attempted murder usually has that effect on me.. .

I made extensive use of shared-use paths on Saturday in my wee 106km jaunt from Keswick to Whitehaven, Workington, Cockermouth and back. Apart from a couple of dubious route choices, they were largely excellent and I had courteous discourse with several pedestrians.

Overtaking a headphone-wearing jogger can be hilarious (for you, not them). During my daily commute on early autumn evenings I would regularly scare runners as my large form crept into their peripheral vision. Some of them really screamed loudly!
Going the other way in the morning was sometimes differently interesting as I occasionally had to cycle through gaggles of 'wiseguy' students walking towards me who thought it was hilarious to not get out of the way on a 20FT wide dual use path. My solution was simple (inspired by the Masai tribesmen who steal food from lions). Accellerate and shout "make a hole!" I only had to do it 3 times in total but it added to my adrenaline levels for a few miles. Oh, then there was the pikey's German shepherd incident but that's another story.. .